


Love is a drug (or a bug??)

by Idontreallyknowanymore



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Brotp, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluffy, Flustered Lance (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Idiots in Love, Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt Friendship, Keith and Pidge are besties, Love Confessions, Lovebug AU, M/M, Mutual Pining, Space Uncle Coran (Voltron), coran just wants his boy happy, klance, love bug au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-29
Updated: 2018-06-29
Packaged: 2019-05-30 08:41:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15093197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Idontreallyknowanymore/pseuds/Idontreallyknowanymore
Summary: “THERE’S A BUG, OH GOD THERE’S A BUG I’M TOO PRETTY TO DIE!”“RUN!” Keith yells. Icy fear seeps through his body turning it cold despite the heat.“AGGHHH!” Lance squawks indignantly before tumbling ungracefully to the floor, effectively drawing away their attention from their silent conversation. He lies motionless, crumpled in a heap.(Or Lance get's bitten by a Love bug and falls in love with Keith....(mostly anyway) and he is a blushing gay mess)





	Love is a drug (or a bug??)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! so as you probably know this is inspired by that iconic klance art, though this one has a little twist.  
> Please give kudos and comment if you like it, it really means a lot! This wasn't proof read so sorry for any mistakes.  
> enjoy =)

Several suns are beating down on Rouea; their rays intertwining and concentrating until it is almost too hot to bear. The landscape is rocky and harsh, yet life still somehow manages to bloom through the withered cracks. Green sprouts almost everywhere, forming an unusual looking forest, though it only reaches two and a half metres tall. The leaves are long and healthy, but the branches twist upwards towards the sky as if begging for mercy from the unforgiving sunlight. Vibrant flowers, that sort of look like lilies, clung to the trunks, twisting around them like mint sauce on chocolate ice cream. Colours ranging from bumble bee yellow, to red as alive as freshly spilled blood, they almost seem to sparkle in the light, they quite obviously thrive off of it. 

All in all, it was way too warm for Keith’s liking. He’d hated those nights alone in his cabin, feeling like he was slowly melting away. 

Lance is dodging the trees, twirling through them like a dancer. Keith can’t help but watch.  
“Wow, this makes me feel like a giant!” he exclaims, cheeks red with the effort.  
“Lance. Chill out, we need to conserve our energy, who knows how long it will take us to find the Captisdolaride.” Pidge has her eyebrows furrowed and is tapping furiously at a small tablet.  
They had been sent out on an expedition for medical supplies, for a plant that could apparently cure headaches- if Coran was correct that was. And Shiro seemed to get a lot of headaches lately. It was essentially a boring task and they’d all moaned and complained enough already, so now they just had to ‘get on with it’ as Allura had impatiently demanded. But still, it wasn’t fair that Hunk and shiro as well as Coran and Allura got to stay at the castle, even though they were probably just as busy.  
“But it’s so fuuuuuunn.” He whines, making Keith’s face flush.

God Lance could be adorable sometimes. All the time- his brain singed unhelpfully. Keith knew he had a crush on Lance ever since the bonding moment. Sure, before that he knew he liked lance- a little bit at least. But before it was only ever in bursts; when he was being kind or when he managed to take down an entire fleet of practice drones with ease. It came out in blips. Moments of being flustered that he could quickly get over. But since that day it has been all consuming. All he can think about is Lance’s playful smile after he stops laughing, the freckles that cover his cheeks like mini galaxies, the deep ocean blue, with lighter shades interwoven like rippling waves. He can’t stop thinking about how ridiculously cute his face looks all furrowed up, when they’re arguing about something stupid. Or how when he pouts, he gives the most heartbreakingly sweet puppy dog eyes. He’s pouting right now. And god, it’s killing Keith. But Lance is straight, at least is seems that way to him. Anyway, even if he wasn’t, If he is Bi or Pan or something else. He couldn’t possibly like him. Even the idea of it is absurd. Keith wouldn’t stand a single chance. He’s just Keith after all. An awkward, headstrong, stubborn loner. And lance is so- well, Lance. Keith says his name in his head like it’s the final line in a play, as if deafening applause should always follow. 

“Lance, don’t tire yourself out. We still have a long way to go.”  
“Pfff. I can still beat you to it, even after all this beautiful dancing.” He says, gesturing to himself. Keith just scowls in response.  
“Yeah well I can beat both of you losers so shut it.” Pidge interjected.  
Crackling white noise through their helmets, distracts them from their conversation. Allura’s voice cuts through the irritating sound, startling them all.  
“Paladins, I have been researching this planet and it came to my attention that it may be inhibited by hostile creatures. They were known on Altea as ‘lovebugs’. Silly name really, but they were very common when I was a child. Stay away from them. They will bite if they get the opportunity. Be careful.” Lance feels a churning queasiness in the pit of his stomach. Great, hostile alien space bugs.  
“Roger that princess.” he says with a grimace. 

 

They carry on through the flowering maze, just more cautiously now. Sweat makes their armour stick and rub uncomfortably. Lance tries to keep his helmet on. He really does. After all, they are on an alien planet with potentially dangerous space bugs. But it’s too hot and his head feels like its slowly being fried. He lifts it off, exposing his damp, slicked back helmet hair and breathes in deeply, luckily the planets air isn’t poisonous to humans. He bends over, letting his hands fall to his knees. Keith asks if he’s okay. His cheeks turn a rosy pink beneath his glowing caramel skin though he hides it by responding with a half hearted thumbs up. Once he’s sure it’s mostly faded, he stands up tiredly, wiping off his fore-head with his hand. He pulls out a bottle of water from his backpack and takes a long, greedy gulp. A few droplets escape from his lips and run down his neck. Then, all in a blur, he drops the bottle, the water spilling and soaking into the ground, and starts madly flapping his arms around near his face and screeching.

“THERE’S A BUG, OH GOD THERE’S A BUG I’M TOO PRETTY TO DIE!”  
“RUN!” Keith yells. Lance sprints as fast as he can, his muscles aching with the effort. He can see a bright pink flying thing out of the corner of his eye. One of the bugs. Icy fear seeps through his body turning it cold despite the heat. Keith and Pidge share a concerned glance, her eyebrows drawn tightly together, biting her lip.  
“AGGHHH!” Lance squawks indignantly before tumbling ungracefully to the floor, effectively drawing away their attention from their silent conversation. He lies motionless, crumpled in a heap.  
“LANCE!” Keith yells, charging through the trees. His stomach feels sick to the core. No. Not Lance. Not now. He couldn’t handle this, he wouldn’t cope. Not ever. Racing to his side, he drags Lance over on his back, spotting an angry red bite on his neck, and puts his fingers where Lance’s pulse should be. Thump-thump. He lets out a sigh of relief, his shoulders slumping. He isn’t dead but he is still unconscious, though he looks like he’s just sleeping. Peaceful. Though still bitten by a potentially lethal bug- Allura hadn’t explained the side effects. His head spins at the thought of it. Of losing Lance. He tries to scoop him up, to take him back to Red; If he gets back quick enough it will all be okay. It has to be.

Lance stirs, eyes blinking shut hard before they slowly flutter open. When he looks into Keith watery lilac eyes, he tenses.  
“Keith?” he wonders tenderly, reaching out to touch Keith’s cheek and then twirling a piece of his coal black hair between his fingers. Keith blushes a fire truck red. He turns to Pidge in utter confusion, but she’s talking frantically to someone on the comms.  
“W-why are you looking at me like that? Are you alright Lance?” He says, befuddlement and worry creeping into his tone.  
“Yes, I think so. I am now at least.” he mutters shyly, trying but to hide his face in keith’s shoulder. Keith patted his back awkwardly before gesturing wildly to Pidge. He was silently channelling WHAT. THE. HELL whilst trying not to let Lance notice. Pidge gestures for Keith to come to her, with a strange expression on her face.

 

“Umm. Just..er wait here a second Lance..I’ll be right back” he quickly untangles himself from Lance’s arm before sprinting quickly to pidge.  
“What, what’s going on? Why is Lance being so weird? He’s not acting lik-”  
“KEITH. Dude, seriously. Chill out. Allura said what the side effects are. He’s not going to die, he’s fine.”  
“Then what are the side effects?” Pidge turns to the side, tucking a few loose strands of hair back behind her ear and then eventually glances up at Keith. She swallows.  
“He’s fallen temporarily in love with the first person he saw. Which is..you. But his ‘crush’ can switch between people, apparently it’s all very random.”  
“Oh.” Ohhhhhh. So that’s why he was being all touchy feely with him. Great. Just great. His crush thinks he loves Keith because he’s been drugged by an apparently magical insect. Well that’s just dandy. What would be worse? Lance fake loving him or fake loving someone else?

He glances over her shoulder to see what Lance is doing, but he’s not where Keith left him. He’s looking slowly around with a puzzled look on his face, like he just lost something.  
“Hey Lance, what are you looking for?” He immediately looks up with an enormous smile slowly spreading to his eyes, until they crinkled slightly at the edges.  
“You, Silly! Where did you go?” He doesn’t wait for an answer, instead choosing to wrap his arms around Keith from behind and rub his face fondly on to Keith’s back.  
“Umm, I er.. was right here Lance.” Keith can hear his own heartbeat thunder in his ears.  
“I guess the mission is over.” she sighs.  
“Yes, I think it probably is.” 

Keith tries to escape from Lance’s grip, but he keeps tugging on his arm impatiently, so in the end he settles for just holding his hand. Inside Keith was filled with barely contained joy. He was holding Lance’s hand for crying out loud! But the reason why kept stomping the happiness down until it was hardly recognisable as a positive emotion. The trip back to the lions is filled with compliments and Keith is only just surviving.  
“Keith, has anyone ever told you how pretty you are? Because you are gorgeous!”  
“Umm..Thank you Lance.” He replied, rubbing his neck uncomfortably with his free hand. It goes on and on and on like that until Pidge wants to hit her head against something. Repeatedly. Uggh that’s way too many mushy, lovey dovey words in one sentence. Gross. She fakes throwing up, clutching her chest dramatically. Keith just glares. Eventually, the torture finally stops as they arrive at the location of the trio of parked lions. 

“I guess it would be best if he goes with me then.” Keith grumbles.  
“Yep.” Pidge replies, popping the p. She tries very hard to not look smug, but ultimately she fails.  
“Shut up.”  
“I didn’t say anything!” She giggles, innocently holding up her hands in surrender.  
“Yeah, yeah. Of course you didn’t.”  
“See you at the castle!” She doesn’t bother to hide her amusement now, and is laughing freely. Keith is best friends with Pidge, apart from Shiro, but Shiro is his brother so he doesn’t technically count. She’s easy to talk to and he needs that. She prefers machines to interacting with humans just like Keith. She just builds new ones whereas he cuts them to shreds. She needed someone to talk to about missing Matt and he needed to talk to someone about Lance, though it did take him a while to trust her enough. Their friendship just worked. He hadn’t had a best friend before her.

“What’s so funny?” Lance asks, confused. He says everything to just to Keith, like talking to anyone else would be a waste of his breath.  
“Nothing. Don’t worry.” Keith says, then turns on his heel marching as fast as he can in the heat towards Red. Lance keeps up easily with his quick strides because of his long legs, one of his steps match two of Keith’s. Red’s eyes glow a bright yellow and she slowly lowers he open jaw to the ground. Keith tugs Lance’s hand (his fingers are now interlocking with Keith’s) and motions for him to lead the way. Lance just stays still.  
“Lance?” he questions. When he finally looks up at Keith his oceanic eyes no longer hold any love for him. Keith feels a heavy weight growing inside of him. Does Lance really hate him so much that it’s extinguishing the side effects of the bug bite? Keith thought it was supposed to be certain.  
“Where’s Pidge? I need to see her!” Lance sounds so frantic. Then Keith remembers what Pidge said about the infatuation switching between people. So Lance is ‘In love’ with Pidge now. Cool. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. Keith could totally deal with that. Oh quiznack. He’s so screwed.

Keith sighs, briefly contemplates calling Pidge and begging for help, but she’s already left. So he’s stuck with Lance now.  
“She’s in her lion, Lance. She’s going back to the castle.” he says tiredly. Keith is so done with today.  
“Oh. When can I see her?” Lance feels like the whole world is a blur around him, the only think he can focus on is Pidge. Katie. Wow, that’s a pretty name.  
“Soon. Now come on, we need to get back to the castle.”  
“Fine!” Lance grumbles, reluctantly walking inside. Keith sits down in the pilot’s seat, then realises that there’s not an obvious place for Lance to sit.  
“Um, maybe just sit there?” He gestures to the floor opposite him.  
“Okay.” He sits down, shuffling a few times to get comfy. Once he’s settled, he lets out a big yawn, stretching his arms above his head.  
“Pidge is so smart right? I bet she could but a time travelling machine if she wanted.” Lance glances up at Keith.  
“Yeah, she is.” Keith gives Lance a small smile. He would have to tell her that later, she would love it.  
“I love her glasses, they’re like John Lennon’s.”  
“Huh. I guess they are. I’d never really thought about it.” Keith chuckles despite the situation. He peers round to see Lance, surprised when he’s just staring blankly ahead.

A hundred different memories are swirling through Lance’s head. The startling shock of the realisation that pidge was a girl, like he’d been lowered into an ice bath. The first time Hunk hugged him when he was homesick, the overused sound of rain and the ocean that played on his Ipod. The fear he felt mixed with excitement at seeing Keith again when they rescued Shiro. When Blue first spoke to him, when she whispered into his mind and he could feel her, her whole essence and how alive she was, and how accepting. The dark cloud that seemed to cloud his vision most days but he just closed his eyes and pretended he could see as it swallowed him whole. Keith’s soft expression after he said “we are a good team.” and how it seemed like a moment he imagined, all cast in purple light and far away. The pure joy of taking pictures with the children on a planet they’d freed from the Galra, and how he’d taught them to say cheese. Hunk making a casserole with some space fruit he’d found at the mall and how it tasted just like how his mama makes it, and the nights after he’d spent silently crying, clutching the damp sheets like the could somehow comfort him. A few days after being at the castle and having a food fight with the space goo that Coran tried to get them to eat, and how adorable Keith looked with it splattered messily on his cheeks and his hair sticking up wildly in different directions and how he couldn’t help thinking that he sort of looked like a baby owl. So many feelings, good and bad, turn and turn and turn through his head until he is almost begging for it to just be over. For it to just stop. But there are no breaks in the endless memories he is submerged in. All of team Voltron appear in them, but one more frequently than the others. Keith. It’s like his whole entire goddamn world revolves around Keith. His suppposed rival. And secret crush. But he’s so much more than the labels Lance has tried to contain him in and holy quiznack he loves him for it. He loves Keith? Keith with his stupid Mullet hair and beautiful purple eyes and his  
ridiculously stubborn personality? Although questioning himself, somehow he knows it’s futile because he knows he does. He loves Keith Koagne. 

But what about Pidge? He is supposed to love her, he was so sure of it. But it all seems so fake now, so unreal compared to what he feels for Keith.  
“Lance?” Keith’s voice cuts through his thoughts, jarring him back to reality. He tries to focus but he can’t. A pain starts in his stomach, but rapidly moves to his whole body, like a piece of paper unfolding and unfolding, forever gaining in size. The world is distant and far away and he is drowning beneath the surface. There is the sound of a guttural scream, and it is only when he feels the familiar burning in his throat that he realises it is his own. It’s like his body is warring with itself ; Like he is being divided into two.  
“Lance! What’s wrong?” He yells. The only reply he gets is Lance’s following screams.  
“Just hold on a few more minutes! We’re nearly back!” His voice is coated and dripping with concern. Keith’s eyes pool with tears as he suffers through more of Lance’s heartbreaking sobs. He pushes Red to fly as fast as possible, and she bursts forward with determination but it’s taking so long, and Keith will probably hear those scream whenever he shuts his eyes, so it does nothing to ease his mind. Lance finally stops, but doesn’t speak. He just sits there, staring off into the distance. His eyes are blood shot and puffy and tears stain his cheeks.  
“Lance? What happened? Are you okay?” His brings his legs up to his chest, wrap his arms tightly around them and starts rocking back and forth. After an agonisingly slow few seconds, he finally looks up and freezes when he sees Keith looking so attentive.  
“W-what’s happened? Where am I?” he croaks.  
“We’re in Red, Lance. Do you not remember anything?” Keith asks cautiously.  
Lance remembers the memories he was bombarded with, seeing Keith’s face and realising the truth, then the pain. God, he remembers the pain.  
“Um..not really? I only remember the pain, but nothing before that. How did we get out here? What were we doing?” Great. Now Lance doesn’t remember anything so he has to explain to his crush that his crush had a temporary crush on him then on his best friend. No thanks.  
“I’ll let Allura explain everything.”  
“Okay.” Lance gazes at Keith cautiously.

******************************************

“So you’re saying I was bit by a ‘lovebug’? And I fell in love with Keith? Then Pidge? That’s just Eww. No offence Pidge.”  
“Hey!” Keith barks.  
“None taken. I wouldn’t date you if you were last person alive. No offense.”  
“Um excuse me, rude. Also why would it cause me to be in so much pain? ‘Lovebug’ doesn’t sound very harmful.” he directs his question at Allura.  
“Well, to be quite honest, we are not entirely sure. This reaction was very rare on Altea, but that was only when..Well in different circumstances to these. It might have been because you are human and therefore there is the possibility you reacted differently to an Altean. But we can’t be sure until Coran runs some tests.” She gives him an apologetic smile.  
“Okay. Don’t worry Princess, I’m sure I’ll be fine.” Lance assures, hiding his worry with a smile too big to be real, though nobody but Keith notices. 

The group slowly disperses, one by one, until only Coran and Lance remain.  
“Right, my boy. We’ll need to do some blood tests, and measure your vitals and all that jazz so, you’ll need to sit down here.”  
“Oh right, sure.” There’s a silence as Coran fiddles with a peculiar looking machine, attached to what looks to be a blood pressure cuff.  
“What were the other circumstances? You know? Allura started to talk about it.” Coran scratched his head awkwardly.  
“Well, the love bug is mean to replicate true love right?” Lance nods. “On Altea a few people decided to test it on their partners, to see, well if they did truly love them. It was very frowned upon and quite scandalous, but some people still managed to get away with it. If the person did truly love someone, whenever they ‘fell in love’ with someone else due to the bug; it caused them great agony. Their heart was torn between the one they truly loved, and the one the bug forced them to.” he says it so wistfully, like he’s remembering his long forgotten past. Lance supposes he kind of is. He pauses for a minute before whispering;  
“Oh. Okay. Umm. I don’t think I need these tests then? I kind of am in love. I think, anyway.” he grimaces, fiddling with his t-shirt and rubbing the fabric together. Coran gapes openly.  
“You are? Well, if I’m completely truthful I did kind of expect it. Of course, Allura didn’t believe me.” he gives a fond little chuckle.  
“You did? Is it really that obvious?” Lance says, frowning.  
“No, not to him at least.” Coran grabs Lance’s shoulder and gives a warm smile.  
“I think you should tell him, you never know what might happen. Life is too short to leave your desires unfulfilled unnecessarily. Just give it a chance.”  
“Thanks Coran.”  
“Your welcome, any time Lance.” Coran is beaming, and as Lance walkes out he calls;  
“Let me know how it goes!” Lance turns on his heel by the door, and gives a small determined nod. 

 

*****************************************

 

Lance is freaking out. He’s just about to tell his long term rival that he loves him. He doesn’t know what reaction to expect. He doubts Keith is going to share his feelings, but he has to at least try. He’s pacing up and down the training room, where Keith is (surprise, surprise) training. Lance is a typical over thinker. He thinks about every single choice he makes, no matter how small, way too many times. His reasoning is each choice we make has to lead us to another, and another and another, and then suddenly you end up somewhere based on every single decision you’ve ever made. And the only thing you an ask yourself is, did I choose right? Right now, Lance is incapable of thinking. So he doesn’t. 

He marches forward, seeing Keith slash and cut the simulation machines to shreds, his hair falling forward in his face and stops. No, no, no, no, no, nope. What was he thinking? He couldn’t do this. Nope. Lance is leaving the building. Ship. Floating magic castle. Whatever. He is out.  
“Lance?” Keith has stopped the sequence and is looking up at his excpectantly.  
“Oh hey, Keith.” he tries to act nonchalantly but he’s fairly sure it’s not working.  
“Are you okay? Did Coran find anything wrong?” He looks pretty concerned, and well, pretty.  
“No. He didn’t do any tests, we..sort of figured it out.”  
“How?” Keith is tilting his head slightly like an adorable and confused puppy. Seriously? Who gives him the right to look like this Lance wondered frustratedly to himself.  
“Well, you know Allura said it had happened on Altea before, just in different circumstances?”  
“Yes?”  
“Well, it turns out they weren’t so different after all. Coran told me about it.”  
“Why, what’s the circumstance?” Keith’s breathing is fast from training, and the words are almost panted out. 

“The person who gets bitten, for them to go through pain, has to be..to be..” Keith nods his head, assuring Lance to go on and he manages to stumble through the rest of his sentence.  
“The person has to be in love.” Keith’s eyes dropped to floor.  
“Wow, that’s great Lance, who’s the lucky girl?” there is an odd twinge to his tone.  
“Well first of all, he’s not a girl, just to make that clear, I’m bi. Guess I’ve never really told you, huh? Secondly it probably isn’t requited so it doesn’t really matter.”  
“Oh. Okay, no that’s fine, I guess I’d just never thought of you liking guys.” He had. He definitely had, specifically Lance potentially liking him.  
“How do you know it’s unrequited? Have you told him?” he continues.  
“No. I just...” He looks up into Keith’s gorgeous purple eyes and smiles. You can do it Lance, just say it.  
“I love you Keith.”

“What the hell Lance?” He is startled by Keith’s accusatory tone and jumps backwards a few inches.  
“You can’t just spring that on me looking all shy and cute, it’s not fair!” Though he sounds annoyed, a grin is quickly spreading across Keith’s entire face.  
“W-what? You think I’m cute?” He stutters, face covered in blush.  
“No. Well, yes. But you’re more than cute Lance. You should know that. You’re beautiful.”  
“Thank you.. does this mean? He breathes.  
“Yeeeesss?” he drawls, waiting for him to continue.  
“Does this mean you like me?”  
“Lance, I love you too.”  
“Me? You really love me?” he asks dumfounded, is the room suddenly spinning or is that just him?  
“Yes, I do. I really do.” His eyes hold so much love. And it’s all for him. For stupid, goofy Lance.  
Lance wasn’t really sure who moved forward first, but suddenly they’re kissing and his hands are in Keith’s hair. When they break apart, they don’t go far. They press their foreheads together, blink as if they can’t quite believe what just happened, and then wrap their arms around each other like they won’t ever let go.

 

**************************************

Coran doesn’t need Lance to tell him what happened that day. He can tell by the gleam in Lances’s eyes, the brightness of his smile and how often Keith makes him laugh. It’s safe to say, that it went pretty darn well.


End file.
